Means of tracking movement of bodies during medical treatment

ABSTRACT

During preprogrammed medical treatment and remote controlled surgery tracking the movements of the body being treated and integrating those tracked movements with the preprogrammed/remote controlled treatment to arrive at an integrated modified treatment track and following that modified track during the treatment. The treating instrument may be a solid scalpel or high-energy radiation, such as X-rays, ultra sound, laser beams or the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/808,459 filed on Mar. 25, 2004, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,742,804,which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/457,567, file Mar. 27, 2003 the entire contents of both ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

This invention is directed to the art of tracking the movement ofobjects, especially the involuntary movement of internal organs, orstructural features, or the like, as a function of body movements causeby a patient's breathing or other voluntary or involuntary movement.

BACKGROUND

It is widely known that internal tumors can succumb to radio surgery andthat kidney stones can be broken up into gravel by impinging ultra soundenergy on them. Tumors in the thoracic cavity, or elsewhere in the bodycan be attacked by impinging laser, X-rays, or other high-energyradiation beams on them with sufficient power to kill the tumor cells.(Hereinafter, the term X-ray will be used in a generic sense toencompass many different kinds of radiation beams, such as X-rays, gammarays, laser beams, ultra sound, and other similar radiationscalpels/tools).

Similarly, stones accumulated in the kidney, gall bladder and the likecan be treated with other radiation beams, such as ultra sound, in orderto break up the stones into gravel that is small enough to pass out ofthe patient's system. It is obvious that, if the direction of thehigh-energy radiation beam is not exactly where it is supposed to be,even if it is off very slightly, the consequences are that the procedureis either ineffective or not completely effective. That is, for example,either that the entire tumor is not destroyed, or rendered necrotic,(because the high energy X-ray beam doesn't reach to the edge of thetumor) or normal, healthy tissue is destroyed, or rendered necrotic,(because the X-ray beam impinges on tissue outside the periphery of thetumor). Therefore, technicians go to extreme lengths to insure that theX-ray beam is properly focussed exactly where the tumor, or otherfeature being treated, is.

It will be clear, however, that the patient being treated is breathingthroughout the high-energy radiation treatment. Thus, the thoraciccavity (or other locations under treatment) is almost constantly movingas a function of normal breathing. Further, there is the risk that thepatient will inadvertently sneeze or cough during treatment, which wouldseverely impact on the accuracy of the impingement of the high-energyradiation. As the patient breathes, his chest moves and thus thealignment of the X-ray beam can move from being focused directly on thewhole of the tumor, or other feature, to being off its target to agreater or lesser extent. The difference between on-target and slightlyoff-target need not be great. Even if the offset is very small, thatdifference can be critical to the success or failure of the treatmentsuch as resection, or rendering the impinged tissue necrotic, or othertreatment.

This situation is equally true for remote controlled and so called“surgeonless” operations that employ a solid scalpel rather than aradiation scalpel, such as a high energy X-ray beam. The scalpel iswielded by a remotely controlled machine that has been preprogrammed tofollow a specific predetermined track or course, if the body beingworked on moves during surgery, but the preprogrammed track has not beenprogrammed to compensate for this movement, the scalpel will cut in thewrong place, at least part of the time. Also, when a remotely locatedsurgeon is directly controlling the scalpel via remote-controlled means,and no preprogramming exists, real-time feedback of patient body motionis required to indicate to the remotely located surgeon, or to automatedsurgical equipment, that the patient or its organs have moved.

It is known in the surgical field that certain forms of surgery,particularly computer operated cranial image guided microneurosurgery,can be greatly assisted and improved by independently tracking themovements of a scalpel or probe while the functional ends of theseinstruments are out of line of sight of the surgeon. In this technique,these movements of the scalpel, or the like, are matched to the featureof the body that is being resected or rendered necrotic as it appears ona previously taken image of the portion of the intracranial tissue thatis being resected or rendered necrotic (that is, the tumor). Thus, theprobe or knife can be made to follow the contours of the diseased tissueas shown on a previously taken MRI, or the like, even where the surgeoncannot directly see the diseased tissue. Clearly it is very importantthat the patient's head be maintained absolutely still during thesurgery, and this has been accomplished by severely clamping the head insuitable restraints prior to and during surgery. However, it is notalways possible to maintain the cranium absolutely still during extendedsurgery.

It is also known (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,981 for example) to carry outtreatments of internal features of a body while compensating for theinadvertent, or intentional, movement of the body during surgery. Thisreference discloses that this compensation is accomplished byperiodically generating positional data about the internal targetstructure or feature that is being treated, continuously generatingposition data about the position of markers operatively associated withthe body but positioned outside the body, and generating acorrespondence between these sets of data.

As with most, if not all, medical instrumentalities, it is undesirableto employ an instrumentality with one patient that has been used byanother patient. Further, it is important to use instrumentalities inconnection with a patient that do not significantly adversely affect thetreatment itself. In another embodiment . . . .

BRIEF SUMMARY

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for improving theaccuracy of surgeonless treatment of internal features of a body of ananimal, particularly a human.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide means formodifying preprogrammed surgical operations (solid or radiation scalpel)to account for movement of the patient's body during surgery.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means, that areauxiliary to preprogrammed surgery, to cause the movement of thesurgical tool, or other operating tool, more accurate than has beenpossible by following the teachings of the prior art.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide disposablemeans for determining the movement of the patient and integrating suchmovement with preprogrammed treatment tracks.

Other and additional objects of this invention will become apparent froma consideration of this entire specification and claims.

In accord with and fulfilling these objects, one important aspect ofthis invention comprises the disposition of disposable markers atseveral different specific locations on the exterior of the portion ofthe body being treated and that is subject to movement during surgery.For example, such a body portion can be the chest cavity or the lowerabdominal area, or the cranium. The spatial locations and orientationsof these respective markers are each tracked with great accuracy inrelation to a predesignated three-dimensional coordinate system that isfixed in space, such as the operating room. If the surface being trackedhas been mapped during breathing, such as breathing with or withoutanesthesia, prior to the time of treatment with high-energy radiation ora remote controlled scalpel, that prior mapping can be integrated intothe predetermined path to be followed by the scalpel (solid orradiation). Further, the prior tracked breathing movements can becompared to breathing movements being tracked during surgery and anydifferences superimposed on the predetermined movement tracking input tothe surgical path. The direction as well as the power of the high energyradiation scalpel, or of the remotely controlled solid scalpel, or thelike, is continually adjusted based on the instantaneous positions andorientations of the external markers so that the diseased tissue that issought to be resected or rendered necrotic is substantially the onlytarget to the greatest extent possible. There exists certaincommercially available software, for example from Boulder InnovationGroup, Inc., of Boulder, Colo., that is capable of performing thesetracking activities both before and during surgery. The software used totrack these movements is, of course, and integral part of the instantinvention. This invention would not be operative without such softwarepart of the instant invention. However, the software itself in notinvented here, only its use in combination with disposable supports forthe radiation emitters and in combination with certain optical fibersand certain emitters, in the instant method.

In order to map the motion of a surface, including a constantly movingsurface such as a chest cavity that is moving because of breathing, itis necessary to provide receiver means where the emissions from LEDs orthe like are received and the results of such reception converted tolocations and direction vectors of the emitters. Where the emissions areradiation in the electromagnetic spectrum wavelengths, it is common touse as a receiver a three (3)-camera array to insure accurate locationcalculation of the transmitted information. While three-camera arraysare commonly used with LEDs emitters, two-camera arrays as well as aone-camera array system are also on the market. Since the receiver meansis not per se inventive here, the generic term, “receiver” will be usedto encompass and disclose all receiver arrays.

A receiver system is disposed within line of sight of the emitters sothat emissions from the emitters can be picked up by the receivers andthereby are adapted to be converted into positions and direction vectorsof the markers. The positions and direction vectors of the markers as sodetermined are then converted into a map of the moving outside of thebody being worked on. When the emitters emit electromagnetic radiation,the receiver means may comprise one or more cameras that work togetherto place the emitters in their correct location so that constantlychanging map of is established

In one important feature of this invention, the means by which themarker is attached to the outside of the body is disposable. By usingdisposable markers the risk of transmitting infections and the like issubstantially reduced, if not eliminated entirely. However, undercertain circumstances, it is considered to be within the scope of thisinvention, although not preferred, for the means by which the markersare attached to the outside body surface(s) to be reusable. Although thepreferred commercial embodiment of this invention may employ disposablemarkers, disposability is not an indispensable feature of all aspect ofthis invention.

Although a single marker may be used in the instant invention, it ispreferred to use a plurality of markers. (As used hereinafter, the terms“marker” or “markers” should be considered to encompass both a singlemarker and a plurality of markers depending on the context in which thewords are used. The use of singular or plural should not be consideredto be a limitation.) The markers that are disposed on the patient's bodyare suitably radiation-emitting devices, such as a light emitting diode(preferably emitting light in the visible red and invisible infraredwavelengths). Such devices are often referred to as LEDs, even thoughthey may not emit visible light. Alternatively, or in combination, adevice that responds to a magnetic field, or a reflector of light(visible or not), or an emitter of visible light, or a laser diode, ortheir equivalents, can be used. Collectively the various markers aresometimes hereinafter referred to as “emitters”. Nothing containedherein, however, should be construed as limiting the word, “emitter” toLEDs or the like. Rather, emitters should be construed to mean any meansof conveying the location and direction vector of a marker relative to acontroller. As used herein, the term “signal” is intended to meanwhatever means is employed to communicate between the marker and thecontroller, such as for example, emitted radiation, reflection,disruption of a magnetic field, etc.

Emitter markers usually require a power source in order to enable themto emit radiation. Thus, the emitter is usually required to have batterypower attached thereto, or to be attached to an outside source ofelectric power. A reflecting emitter, of course, does not requireelectric power input. It merely requires a reflective material disposedon an exposed surface and a beam of radiation that will be reflectedonto a suitable receiver that will convert the reflected radiation intothe position and orientation of the marker. An element that produces amagnetic signal can be powered by an electromagnet, in which case itmust have access to a source of power, such as a battery or externalline current, or it can be powered by a permanent magnet and thereforedoes not need a power source to enable it to operate. Alternatively, themarker(s) can be an electromagnetic sensor that responds to anexternally generated and applied magnetic field. Other similar radiatingmarkers are well known, per se, and will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in this art. The above referred to markers are merelyexemplary.

Where external power is required, the marker must be provided with meansof being electrically connected to a suitable power source. For example,a conventional connector or clip can be used. It is appropriate for thepower connector to be attached directly to the marker in need of a powersource. The marker is also directly attached to an element, preferably adisposable element, that can be adhered, in a relatively fixed locationand orientation, to the patient's skin. The marker/support elementcombination is positioned such that the transmissions therefrom can beaccurately received by a receiver means that will accept transmissionfrom the emitter. From the direction; and possibly the strength, of thereceived radiation, it is possible to calculate the exact location anddirection vector of the emitter/marker. By very accurately tracking aplurality of emitters, it is possible to define the motion of thesurface supporting the emitters (the chest for example), such asmovement that results from the patient's breathing. By tracking theemissions of the markers over short time intervals, it is possible totrack and map movement of the surface as it is occurring. Thisinformation can then be integrated with the preprogrammed the path ofthe surgeonless scalpel/high energy radiation on a substantiallyinstantaneous basis thereby substantially constantly adjusting thesurgical path to account for the motion of the surface.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the emitter is an LED thatemits radiation in the visible red or invisible infrared region of thespectrum. There are two preferred means of using such LED emitters inthis invention. In the first embodiment, the LEDs are attached directlyto the skin of the patient and are disposed at an angle such that theirtransmitted radiation is principally directed to a camera array,comprising at least one camera that is adapted to receive suchtransmissions and that is mounted in a fixed location. The LEDs can befired in a predetermined sequence so that the calculating software knowswhich LED has fired at any specific time, and therefore which locationon the patient's body is being tracked. Alternatively, the various LEDscan be selected to emit radiation of different wavelengths. This too canbe a means of discriminating between emitters. If different wavelengthemissions are used, all of the emitters may be fired simultaneouslybecause discrimination is a function of the wavelengths being emitted.Alternatively, LEDs can be fired simultaneously, using the samewavelength, provided that software that differentiates betweensimultaneously firing emitters is employed.

In this embodiment, LEDs that are attached to the patient's skin must beoperatively associated with a power source. The power source can be abattery, but more preferably will be a line current, which meansstringing an electrically conducting wire across the patient. Thiscauses two potential problems that must be taken into consideration bythe operator. First, there is the danger of patient leakage currentexceeding that specified by medical regulatory bodies by contact withthe electrical conductor in use. The second is the fact that suchconductive wires are quite opaque to most radiation. Therefore, thewires themselves can severely interfere with the accuracy of theoperation by attenuating the high energy treating radiation that isbeing impinged on the patient.

An alternative and preferred embodiment is to position the LED(s), andtheir power supply, away from the patient and string optical fibers fromthe LEDs to positions on the skin of the patient. As these remote LEDsfire, the light is transmitted through the optical fibers to an exactlocation on the skin of the patient from which it is projected towardthe camera array that is fixedly positioned according to this invention.The substantial advantages of this embodiment are twofold. First, noelectrical wiring is in contact with the patient thereby eliminating therisk of exceeding patient isolation requirements. Second, where thescalpelless surgical tool is high energy X-radiation, an LED can beselected such that it can cooperate with optical fibers that are moretransparent to the high energy radiation. While all optical fibers aremore transparent to high-energy radiation than are solid electricalwires, plastic optical fibers, especially methyl methacrylate fibers,attenuate infrared light transmitted through it more than they attenuatevisible light. In the preferred embodiment, plastic optical fibers arepreferably used with visible red LEDs or other visible light sources,and glass optical fibers are preferably used with infrared LEDs or laserdiodes. Glass fibers are more opaque to high energy radiation than isplastic fibers.

In some operations, it has been found to be efficient to employ acombination of mensuration techniques, both as a double check and inorder to insure that all movements are accurately determined. Forexample, one could use a combination of LED electromagnetic radiationemission and magnetic field generation. Where optical fibers are used totransmit the electromagnetic radiation from a remote source into energybeing beamed to a camera, the optical fibers will not interfere with themagnetic field based information.

The element supporting the emitter, reflector, or the like, may itselfbe made of a material that reflects the movement of the surface that itis attached to. The support material may be such that tracking themovements of the emitter(s), or the like, necessarily tracks thesupporting element and, through the supporting element, tracks themovement of the spot on the surface to which the supportingelement/emitter(s) is attached.

While the element attaching the emitter to the moving surface beingtracked must be such that it tracks the movement of the surfacesubstantially identically, in a preferred embodiment of this invention,it must also be as inexpensive as possible because it is preferablydisposable. Generally speaking, a paper or cardboard supporting elementwill not serve in this application because, although these materials arevery inexpensive, they are also is not particularly stable. In thesecases, the movement of the surface to which they are attached may causedifferent portions of these supporting elements to move in a non-linearmanner with respect to the surface. This may cause unacceptablevariations in the tracking results and may cause inaccuracies in what isintended to be a very accurate tracking of a respectable structure.Further, body effluent, such as sweat, will often cause deterioration ofpaper or cardboard elements that are exposed to it and it may evendeteriorate certain kinds of cloth. On the other hand, paper orcardboard coated with a non-absorbent plastic, or the like, and that hasbeen rendered adherent to the skin of the patient, may be well suited touse in this invention. Alternatively, supports that are made entirely ofnon-absorbent plastic elements, and that are adherent to the patient'sskin, can be used in this invention.

In some instances, the supporting element should be relatively rigidlyadhered to the underlying surface (skin) of the patient so that it willmove directly with the movement of the underlying tissue that it isdisposed on. However, it has been found that in some cases, a flexiblematerial will serve very well as the supporting structure. Thus, forexample, a textile fabric or a plastic film, that are suitably notadversely affected by body effluent (e.g. sweat) can be used in thisservice under certain conditions.

If a fabric or film is stretched to conform to a body part surface whosemovements need to be tracked, it can be adhered to the surface of thebody part or not, provided that it substantially continually conforms tothe surface of the body part and that it continues to so conform as thepatient breathes. The key property of the support element is that itaccurately translates the movements of the body part to the emitter sothat the emitter can transfer these exact movements to the control meansthat integrates these movements with the preprogrammed surgical route toform a continually changing modified surgical route, and directs themovements of the scalpel or radiation in consequence of this modifiedsurgical route.

In a preferred aspect of this invention, where the emitter iselectrically powered and is itself disposed on the surface that issubject to movement, the supporting element, whether rigid or film form,should be substantially insulating, so that the electric current that isinput to cause the emitter to operate will not cause patient discomfort.Therefore, metal support elements should be used sparingly and withgreat care. This objection to the use of metal support elements presentsa problem where the marker's location and orientation are determined asa function of a magnetic field and the magnetic elements must bemagnetizable metal. In this respect, it has been found to be desirableto provide a support element that has a magnetic metal armature and aninsulating cover at least over that part of the element that will comeinto contact with the patient's skin. Various commercially available, oryet to be invented, relatively rigid plastic materials will serve wellin this function. In the case of a radiation emitter, such as a visiblered, or an invisible infra red LED, the entire substantially rigidsupport element, or the film/fabric supporting layer, can be made of anon-conductive plastic or textile material or it may be made of metalcarrying and insulating coating of insulating plastic.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the camera array, or otherreceiver, is suitably located in a fixed position, such as on theceiling of an operating room. This position gives the greatestinterference free view of the patient and the emitters that are attachedto the patient. The LEDs or other emitters, including the radiating endsof the optical fibers, if that embodiment is employed, are suitablyattached to wedge shaped support members so that their radiation isprincipally directed toward the ceiling and especially toward the cameraarray mounted on the ceiling. Where the camera array is mounted suchthat it views the patient at an angle of approximately 45°, the LEDsupports should cause the LEDs to emit radiation toward the camera arrayat a similar angle of approximately 45°. Other spatial arrangements willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in this art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the attached drawing:

FIG. 1 (A through D) show an exploded view of the invention using a clipto connect the device with an external power source;

FIG. 2 (A through D) shows an exploded view of the invention using aconnector to join the device (emitter) with an external power source;

FIGS. 3 (A and B) shows an exploded view of an application of a trackingsystem of this invention to a patient through a film/fabric structure;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a remote LED housing and a plurality ofoptical fibers leading from that housing; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an LED attached to the end of an opticalfiber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a cable 2 is adapted to be attached, at one end1, to a source of external power (not shown) and, at the other end, to aplurality of suitable, preferably disposable, emitters 4. The emittersare shown as being attached to a supporting element 5 having one sidethat is suitably equipped with an adhesive material 6 that is adapted toadhere to a patient (not shown).

FIG. 1A is a schematic representation of one aspect of this inventionthat shows the cable 2 with a suitable connection, that is adapted toconnect 1 to an external power supply (not shown) and a clip 3 that isadapted to connect to a lead from an LED. FIG. 1B is a schematicrepresentation of the same aspect of this invention where there is shownan LED emitter 4 and a support element 5 with an adhesive backing 6.FIG. 1C is a schematic representation of the same aspect of thisinvention that shows a side view of an emitter supporting element 5 andshows a lead 7 from the LED that is adapted to be attached to the clip3. FIG. 1D is a schematic representation of this same aspect of thisinvention that is similar to FIG. 1C but shows an emitter with two leads7 extending therefrom.

FIG. 2A is a schematic representation of another aspect of thisinvention that shows the cable 2 with a suitable connection 1, that isadapted to connect 1 to a power supply (not shown) and a connector 3 athat is adapted to connect to a lead 7 from an LED. FIG. 2B is aschematic representation of this aspect of this invention where there isshown an LED emitter 4 and a support element 5 with an adhesive backing6. FIG. 2C is a schematic representation of this aspect of thisinvention that shows a side view of an emitter supporting element 5 andshows a lead 7 from the LED that is adapted to be attached to theconnector 3 a. FIG. 2D is a schematic representation of this aspect ofthis invention that is similar to FIG. 2C but shows an emitter with twoleads 7 extending therefrom for attachment to the connector 3 a.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic representations of a different aspect ofthis invention that employs a disposable fabric backing 8 to whichmultiple LED's 4 are attached. Each LED 4 is attached to an area 9 ofthe fabric under which a self-adhesive pad 10 can be disposed. It isconsidered to be within the scope of this invention that suitableadhesive material can be applied directly to the underlying fabricbacking and to thereby enable the backing to be adhered to the bodybeing worked on. The fabric may have suitable wiring 17 disposed on itssurface and preferably attached to the fabric, or the wiring may bedirectly integrated into the fabric. The wiring 17 connects the severalLED's to a hub 11 that is adapted to be connected to a connector 3 thatis in turn connected to a power supply (not shown) though a single ormultiple electrical lead 2.

FIG. 4, shows a housing 100 in which is disposed at least one, butpreferably a plurality of, LEDs (not specifically shown). Means 102 areprovided to supply electric power to the LED's. A timing device (notshown) is provided operatively attached to the plural LEDs to cause theLEDs to fire in a preprogrammed sequence. A plurality of optical fibers104, are shown emanating from the housing that are suitable forattachment to supporting means, that are, in turn, suitable forattachment to a body.

FIG. 5 shows an emitting LED 110 that is attached to an optical fiber112. The LED has two leads 114 and 116 that are attachable to a sourceof electric power (not shown). When the LED 110 fires, its emission iscaptured by the optical fiber 112 and transmitted through the fiber to aposition on the outside of the patient's body being treated (not shown)from which location the emission is projected from the end of theoptical fiber toward a camera array (not shown) where the movement ofthe skin of the patient is tracked.

1. A system for improving the accuracy of preprogrammed treatment on abody of a patient having an inside portion that is in need of thetreatment and an outside portion that is moveable during the treatment,comprising: at least one emission source; a plurality of markersconfigured for independent attachment to a plurality of locationsadjacent a surface of the moveable outside portion of the body proximateto the inside portion in need of the treatment to emit a correspondingplurality of signals, wherein each of the markers comprise: a supportelement comprising a base for securing the marker adjacent the surfaceof the moveable outside portion of the body; a signal emitteroperatively associated with the support element; and an optical fibercoupling the signal emitter and the emission source; a timing deviceconfigured to cause the signal emitters to respectively emit signalsunder conditions sufficient to differentiate which signal emitter issending each signal, respectively; at least one receiver disposed remotefrom the body and positioned to receive the plurality of signals fromthe signal emitters, wherein each of the support elements is configuredto position a respective signal emitter at an angular offset from aperpendicular direction relative to the base to direct emissions fromthe respective signal emitter towards the at least one receiver; aremotely-controlled surgical device; a computing device comprising aprocessor and wherein the processor is configured with softwareexecutable instructions to cause the computing device to performoperations comprising: tracking the movement of the outside portion ofthe body based on the received plurality of signals from the signalemitters; identifying and mapping the inside portion of the body that isintended to be subjected to treatment; preprogramming a treatment pathadapted to be followed by the remotely-controlled surgical device; andintegrating the tracked movements with the treatment path to form amodified treatment path; and a guidance apparatus configured for causingthe remotely-controlled surgical device to treat the inside portion ofthe body along the modified treatment path while substantiallypreventing the remotely-controlled surgical device from departing fromthe modified treatment path to any substantial extent.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the remotely-controlled surgical device is configuredto be operated without benefit of a surgeon and to perform a treatmentselected from the group consisting of a high energy radiation sourcesufficient to render the inside portion of the body necrotic and a highenergy ultrasound radiation sufficient to break up stones.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the at least one emission source comprises aplurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein the timing device is configured to cause the signal emitters torespectively emit signals under conditions sufficient to differentiatewhich emitter is sending each signal by firing the LEDs in apredetermined sequence.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein signals fromthe LEDs are selected from the group consisting of emissions havingwavelengths in the visible region and emissions having wavelengths inthe infrared region.
 6. The system of claim 3, wherein theremotely-controlled surgical device comprises a solid scalpel andwherein the at least one emission source comprises a plurality of lightemitting diodes (LEDs) having emission wavelengths in the infraredregion, and wherein the optical fibers comprise glass.
 7. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the remotely-controlled surgical device comprises ahigh energy radiation source sufficient to render the inside portion ofthe body necrotic, wherein the at least one emission source comprises aplurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) having emission wavelengths inthe visible region, and wherein the optical fibers comprise plastic. 8.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver comprises anarray of cameras.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the supportelements is configured to reposition the respective signal emitter atanother angular offset from the perpendicular direction relative to thebase so that a direction of emitted signals is end-user adjustable inangle relative to the bases.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein each ofthe support elements are disposable.
 11. The system of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of markers are disposable.
 12. The system of claim 1,wherein each base comprises an adhesive for securing the marker to thesurface of the moveable outside portion of the body.
 13. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the remotely-controlled surgical device-is selected onefrom the group consisting of a surgical scalpel, an operating tool, anda surgical probe.
 14. A patient movement tracking apparatus, comprising:at least one emission source; a plurality of markers configured forindependent attachment to a plurality of locations on a surface of amoveable outside portion of a body proximate to an inside portion inneed of a treatment to emit a corresponding plurality of signals,wherein each of the markers comprise: a support element comprising abase for securing the marker adjacent the surface of the moveableoutside portion of the body; a signal emitter operatively associatedwith the support element, wherein each of the support elements isconfigured to position a respective signal emitter at an angular offsetfrom a perpendicular direction relative to the base to direct emissionsfrom the respective signal emitter towards the at least one receiver;and an optical fiber coupling the signal emitter and the at least oneemission source; and at least one receiver disposed remote from the bodyand positioned to receive the plurality of signals from the signalemitters.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one receiveris configured to determine location of the plurality of markers for aremotely-controlled surgical device that is configured to be operatedwithout benefit of a surgeon.
 16. The patient movement trackingapparatus of claim 15, wherein each base comprises an adhesive forsecuring the marker to the surface of the moveable outside portion ofthe body.
 17. The patient movement tracking apparatus of claim 14,wherein the at least one emission source comprises a plurality of lightemitting diodes (LEDs).
 18. The patient movement tracking apparatus ofclaim 17, further comprising a timing device configured to fire the LEDsin a predetermined sequence.
 19. The patient movement tracking apparatusof claim 17, wherein signals from the LEDs are selected from a groupconsisting of emissions having wavelengths in the visible region andemissions having wavelengths in the infrared region.
 20. The patientmovement tracking apparatus of claim 17, wherein the treatment comprisesa remotely-controlled solid scalpel and wherein the at least oneemission source comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs)having emission wavelengths in the infrared region, and wherein theoptical fibers comprise glass.
 21. The patient movement trackingapparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one receiver comprises anarray of cameras.
 22. The patient movement tracking apparatus of claim14, wherein the treatment comprises a high energy radiation sourcesufficient to render the inside portion of the body necrotic, whereinthe at least one emission source comprises a plurality of light emittingdiodes (LEDs) having emission wavelengths in the visible region, andwherein the optical fibers comprise plastic.
 23. The patient movementtracking apparatus of claim 14, wherein the support elements areconfigured to reposition the respective signal emitter at anotherangular offset from the perpendicular direction relative to the base sothat a direction of emitted signals from the signal emitters isadjustable in angle relative to the base.
 24. The patient movementtracking apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the support elements aredisposable.
 25. The patient movement tracking apparatus of claim 14,wherein the plurality of markers are disposable.
 26. A plurality ofdisposable markers adapted for independent attachment to a plurality oflocations to a surface of a moveable outside portion of a patient bodyproximate to the inside portion in need of a treatment to emit acorresponding plurality of signals, wherein each of the disposablemarkers comprise: a support element comprising a base for securing themarker adjacent the surface of the moveable outside portion of the body;a signal emitter operatively associated with the support element,wherein each of the support elements is configured to position arespective signal emitter at an angular offset from a perpendiculardirection relative to the base to direct emissions from the respectivesignal emitter towards the at least one receiver; and an optical fibercoupled to the signal emitter and configured to be coupled to at leastone emission source so as to communicate light signals from the at leastone emission source to the signal emitter.
 27. The plurality ofdisposable markers of claim 26, wherein the support element, signalemitter and optical fiber are configured to be compatible with aremotely-controlled surgical device that is configured to be operatedwithout benefit of a surgeon.
 28. The plurality of markers of claim 26,wherein the support elements are configured to reposition the respectivesignal emitter at another angular offset from the perpendiculardirection relative to the base so that a direction of emitted signalsfrom the signal emitters is adjustable in angle relative to the bases.29. The plurality of markers of claim 26, wherein each base comprises anadhesive for securing the marker to the surface of the moveable outsideportion of the body.
 30. The plurality of markers of claim 26, whereinthe treatment comprises a remotely-controlled solid scalpel and whereinthe at least one emission source comprises a plurality of light emittingdiodes (LEDs) having emission wavelengths in the infrared region, andwherein the optical fibers comprise glass.
 31. The plurality of markersof claim 26, wherein the treatment comprises a high energy radiationsource sufficient to render the inside portion of the body necrotic,wherein the at least one emission source comprises a plurality of lightemitting diodes (LEDs) having emission wavelengths in the visibleregion, and wherein the optical fibers comprise plastic.